Sophia在記錄：什麼都能記，也什麼都不一定要記

位於北孟買的國家公園 Sanjay Gandhi National Park 內的 Kanheri Caves，被保存得相當完整。同樣是石窟，這裡的遊客明顯比象島上Elephanta Caves 的遊客少許多，也沒有攤販。但我覺得這裡的石窟也很有看頭！相較於象島Elephanta Caves ，Kanheri Caves就顯得簡單樸實，數量也多很多！很像是古老群居的社區。

進去 Kanheri Cave 後的第一個石窟。裡面空空如也。在這裡也遇到小朋友校外教學。
  

牆上的浮雕。
   

這個石窟的門面，比較雄偉講究。很像是祭神的地方。
 
    
 

石窟側邊，好樣是另一個房間的感覺。
  

不知道是不是因為2月季節的關係，整做山光禿禿、沒有生氣！
 

這邊的石窟很像是住所，有看起來簡單家庭住所、也有看起來比較富有的住所。
這群印度人在這裡野餐了起來。
         

很像是水井的角落。

這很像是講堂。
  

Kanheri Caves參觀票價。又是一個差別待遇，印度人只要5盧比，而國外人士則需要100 盧比。

在wikipedia找到一些關於Kanheri Caves的資訊，我的英文不好，不會翻譯，所以還是把原文直接轉貼上來！不過用翻譯軟體後，才發現原來Kanheri Caves是屬於佛教啊！雖然佛教的起源地是在印度，但由於龐大複雜的因素，現今印度信仰佛教的人們不到1%。

The Kanheri Caves are located north of Borivli on the western outskirts of Mumbai, India, deep within the green forests of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. It is 6km from the National Park Main Gate & 7km from Borivali Station. Tourists can go in after 7.30 a.m. Kanheri Caves are signs of Buddhist influence on art and culture in India. Kanheri comes from the Sanskrit word Krishnagiri generally meaning black in colour.They were chiseled out of a massive basaltic rock outcropping.

Description
 
These caves date from 1st century BCE to 9th century CE The earliest are 109 tiny rock-cut cells, carved into the side of a hill. Unlike the elegant splendor of Elephanta Caves nearby, these are spartan and unadorned. Each cave has a stone plinth for a bed. A congregation hall with huge stone pillars contains the stupa, a Buddhist shrine. Farther up the hill are the remains of an ancient water system, canals and cisterns that collected and channeled the rainwater into huge tanks.[3] Once the caves became permanent monasteries, they began to be carved out of the rock with intricate reliefs of Buddha and the Bodhisattvas carved into the walls. Kanheri had become an important Buddhist settlement on the Konkan coast by the 3rd century A.D.

Most of the caves are the Buddhist viharas meant for living, study, and meditation. The larger caves were chaityas, or halls for congregational worship, are lined with intricately carved Buddhist sculptures, reliefs and pillars, and contain rock-cut stupas for congregational worship. The Avalokiteshwara is the most distinctive figure. One hundred inscriptions carved in Brahmi, Devanagari and Pahlavi[5] scripts have been found.[1] The large number of viharas obviously prove a well-organized existence of Buddhist monks' establishment, which was also connected with many trade centers such as the ports of Sopara, Kalyan, Nasik, Paithan and Ujjain. Kanheri was a University center by the time the area was under the rule of the Maurayan and Kushan empires.